Bandung (Day 1) - Shopping!

My Bandung trip isn't something that I had planned for long. I was there briefly (less than 24 hrs) in March, as an extension of my biz trip. Due to that, I told myself that I would definitely come back...and I did!

Miza was toying with the idea of a ladies getaway, and I blurted out Bandung. We managed to get tickets and get everything arranged in perhaps about 1 week. Shima was coming back to KL, and then decided to follow us for that trip.

Well, back to my trip...We took the AirAsia early morning flight. As we didn't get to purchase our tickets earlier, our return tickets had cost us about RM700 (inclusive of tax and all). We arrrived in Bandung at about 10am, local time.

After checking in, we decided to go for some shopping (well, it was my bargaining item. I had promised the girls that I would allocate the 1st day for shopping & the 2nd day for sightseeing). As we were staying at the Santika Hotel, there were some factory outlets located along the same road. The girls got to do some shopping but I didn't.

We had lunch at one of the roadside shops, and nothing fancy of that sort. I introduced them to some local dish. Shima decided to have Nasi Timbel and Miza and I had nasi goreng. We also had advocado juice (Jus alpukat) and orange juice (Jus jeruk). As in any other indonesian food, it was definitely yummy.

There was something in the menu that we didn't know, i.e. Nasi Goreng Terasi. We asked the guy from the shop what terasi was but he couldn't explained. Fortunately for me, I have Wan (an Indonesian friend) who lives in Bandung, but working in Jakarta. He was in Malaysia for his masters and therefore, knew the Malaysian word for it. Funny thing...Terasi is actually belacan!

After lunch, we bought lots of titbits from the shop next door. We bought the local munchies such as pisang salai (with varied flavor), cheese sticks, and lots of other kerepek.

We went to pasar baru, after sending off our stuffs back to the hotel. Pasar baru is a place where you can buy all the local produce, largely textile. It's worth to note that the place is a very busy place, and crowded. So, do bear in mind about your handbags and purse. It also closes early, about 5pm. Therefore, do allocate a FEW HOURS to be there. As per the first trip there, I hardly ventured into the other part of Pasar Baru...only managed to cover the ground floor.

Among the things that you can find there are batik attire, embroideries, kebayas, and muslimah attire. There's a particular shop that I took Miza to, that sells finely tailored muslimah business suits. It was definitely a deal...A nice 2 piece pant suits, and lined, cost only about RM70.

As for batik attire, it ranges from blouses, nighties, kids pyjamas, etc. I bought some batik blouses (long sleeve, chinese colored) and they cost me slightly more than RM10 (about Rp 35,000 to Rp 45,000). There are a lot of varieties, so take a lot of time to choose the one you like.

My interesting find this time was the kids clothes. I bought Jareth a 2 piece attire and for Girl, a dress. Both are made from batik jawa, with excellent workmanship....not to mention that it was extremely cheap. Each was about Rp 15,000 which was like RM6.

For muslimah, there are a lot of things to buy. It range from telekung to swimsuit! Telekung (or Mukena, in Bahasa Indonesia) is something that you definitely have to buy. There are a lot of choice. Most of them are beautifully embroidered, and are in many colors. Being Malaysian, the prefered choice would be white. The materials also varied. The more expensive ones would be the ones made from imported cotton like french cotton or japanese cotton. But that would only cost about RM100.

There are some being sold with bags or separately. For the kids, there are choices of colors. It was strange for me though but according to the mba' at the shop, the kids' telekung are mostly colored as that attracted the kids, plus, as kids play a lot, the telekung won't be that dirty unlike white.

During this trip, I didn't buy any of the telekung but Miza & Shima did. I bought one during my trip in March, for Mas. Bought her a white telekung with gold embroidery. The embroideries were so intricate, around the hemline and also way filling the back.

Other muslimah stuff...a swimsuit. It's a 2 piece attire, with the top long enough to cover the bottom. It alco comes with a headgear, covering the neck as well. Shima bought one. Can't really remember how much it was but if I'm not mistaken, it's about RM50.

Beside that, there were lots of choice for tudung (headscarves). Shima bought the one made from pashmina shawl, which she intended to wear for her New Zealand trip.

There were other things that a muslimah can find such as a neck cover, which one can use together with a low cut blouses/shirt. Basically, there are a lot of stuffs for covering aurat. Probably even things that you can never imagine.

Well, pasar baru was definitely a shopping experience. However, coming back from the pasar could pose some problem. Either you make an arrangement with your cab driver or hail a cab from the roadside.

Getting into a cab can also be tricky thing, which we experienced. The roadside was crowded, not to mention that the road was exteremely busy. Because the staircase is literally next to the road, there wasn't a space for cab to properly stop. Therefore, making it really difficult to get into the cab.

For us, as Shima & I sat at the back, so, we got in thru the passenger door but Miza had a problem to even open the door as she was sitting in front. The other vehicles moved so close to the cab that there was only about less than 1 feet gap! It was only after the security guard stepped forward & stopped the oncoming vehicles that Miza could enter the cab. Come to think of it, it was really a funny experience !!!

Note: The picture above is of Shima trying out her swimsuit, much to the amusement of the ladies at the shops!